Today, non-monogamy is ILLEGAL for married members of the military. "Extramarital Sexual Conduct" is a crime. Married troops who are polyamorous or in some other form of open sexual relationship face ruined careers, fines, reductions in rank, dishonorable discharge, or even jail. OPEN is working to change that. But we need Veterans to join the fight and speak up.
On October 20, OPEN attended the Pentagon's public meeting of its Joint Service Committee on Military Justice and presented it with OPEN's formal proposal to revise the current Manual of Courts-Martial - the military policy document governing implementation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Our proposal would add valuable clarifying language to protect ethically non-monogamous service members. We are extremely happy to report that the Committee heard us! They accepted our proposal professionally. They listened intently to our verbal presentation. They asked insightful questions. And they conveyed to us that they would give the proposal full consideration. Now is the time for Veterans voices to be added!
Full details of the OPEN proposal to the Pentagon and links for non-monogamous Veterans to join this conversation by telling their stories and advocating for change are available on the OPEN web site at: https://www.open-love.org/military-stories
Public comments can be anonymous or Veterans comfortable doing so may include their name. Input from military commanders and attorney's experienced in military adultery prosecutions are particularly valuable to this discussion. Currently serving members of the Armed Forces are also welcome to comment but they do so at great personal risk.
In the three weeks since the public meeting of the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice, already more than a dozen public comments by Veterans have been entered into the official record in support of the OPEN proposal. They tell a compelling story for the need for this change in public policy. Read them for yourself:
https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOD-2026-OS-2245-0001/comment
